Ski climber



March 7, 1939.

C. R. DAWSON SKI CLIMBER Filed Aug. 10, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l CheSIerRDmZFQfS1 WM f.

March 7, 1939. c R, DAWSON ,SKI QLIMBER Filed Au 10, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Che STer R D E'SSEZ and whilea longer climber will fit upon a shortany length and to any normal width of ski. It 25 for snow to collectwithin the climber, beneath its and the ne es i y f r hol in he sid sadjacen 40 bottom and the bottom of the ski, and to pack the ski, thetop portion might be open, or might therein, since it cannot escape, andthis in time be omitted. The climber should be of a length builds up amass of snow beneath the ski which somewhat shorter than the length ofthe shortest unbalances the ski, both as to its weight and as to skis towhich it is intended to apply it, and in the its equilibrium or theequilibrium of the skier. shortest skis, and naturally in longer skis,its rear 5 Patented Mar. 7, 1939 r UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE SKICLIMBER Chester R. Dawson, Seattle, Wash.

Application August 10, 1937, Serial No. 158,307

7 Claims. (01. 280-1143) The present invention relates to ski climbers,cormnodate variations in the length of the climber which are devicesapplied to the bottom of a ski itself, due to shrinking or stretching.to lessen the tendency of the ski to slide back- It is also an object toprovide a climber of this ward when climbing, or which in themselvesoptype which is simple and readily securable in pose sliding by thenature of their surface which place upon the ski or removable, under thecondi- 5, contacts the snow. tions to be found in skiing.

Climbers are made of various materials and in With such objects in mindmy invention comvarious ways. Those made of strips of seal prises thenovel climber, and the novel arrangeskin and the like are expensive, andare generally ment of the parts thereof, as shown in the acused only byexperts. For the majority of skiers, companying drawings, and as will behereinafter 10 having use for climbers but infrequently, yet demoreparticularly described and defined. siring to possess a pair which canbe readily ,ap- In the drawings, showing my invention in varplied,perhaps to rented skis, climbers of less exious forms, Figure 1 is avertical longitudinal secpensive material, such as canvas, are generallytion through a ski and a climber applied thereto, supplied, in the formof a sleeve closed at the rear showing the rear end only, and Figure 2is a perend and open at the forward end to slip onto spective view ofthe same.

the rear end of the ski, and to be secured to the Figure 3 is aperspective view of the front end ski. Such climbers possess certaindisadvantages. of the ski, its binding, and the climber. They have atendency to shrink or in some cases Figures 4 and 5 are views similar toFigure 2,

to stretch, and a climber which will fit properly showing somewhatmodified forms of the rear end on one occasion may not fit properly onanother of the climber.

occasion, because of this. Skis are made of differ- The ski 3 is of anysuitable type, and indeed ent lengths, and a pair of such climbers whichwill it is one of the advantages of my invention that fit upon a shortski will not fit upon a long ski, the climber is adapted to any type ofski, and to ski, it leaves excess material trailing behind the shouldfit snugly at its forward end, to avoid ski, which is undesirable, andthe climber is collecting snow within it. It may be loose at the nottensioned and does not fit snuglyto the ski. sides, provided it is notso loose as to permit it In addition the merchant must carry a stock toturn and slide around the ski. The binding of all sizes of climbers, andmust take care that shown at in Figure 3 is likewise of any suitable 30the pair sold is the proper length to fit the ski type, and itsparticular form constitutes no part of his customer, yet the customermay not always of this invention. The binding is of importance correctlyremember the. length of his skis, or may only in that the climber issecured by engagement have one pair of skis of a length different fromof its forward portion with the forward end of the another pair, andthen cannot interchange his binding. climbers from one pair to another.Afurther dis- The climber consists of a sleeve of canvas or advantage ofthe climbers mentioned lies in the like material, indicated at I, andopen at its front fact that, being open only at their forward end, andat its rear end. Its top portion has no funcas the skier shufliesforward there is a tendency tion, and except for convenience ofmanufacture Accordingly it is an object of the present invenend ID willstop short of the rear end 33 of the tion to devise climbers whichcan bemade of canski. Since it is desirable that the climber extend vas orsimilar material, and which are therefore forwardly under the foot andbinding it is proinexpensive; which is open at the rear end to pervidedwith an integral forwardly extending apron mit escape of snow which maygather between H, which is of a length to extend to the forward thebottom of the climber and the bottom of the end of the binding 38, andof a width to extend ski; which nevertheless may be kept stretchedupward along the sides of the skis but not over the tightly lengthwiseof the ski; which will fit any top thereof. At its forward end thisapron is length of ski, and any normal width of. ski; and provided withmeans to secure it to the ski, and in which is adjustable by smallincrements to acclose contact with the ski, and this is convenientlyaccomplished by means of straps 2 and 20 secured transversely of itsforward end, one of which is provided with a buckle 2|, preferably ofthe type which is readily engageable and disengageable but which willtake up by small increments of adjustment, so that the forward end ofthe climber may be pulled tightly and may bewrapped closely about thebottom of the ski to minimize, so far as possible, the chance forentrance of snow between the bottom of the ski and the climber or itsapron H. The straps, since they engage the front edge of the binding 30,may not be pulled rearwardly, and yet do not interfere with the foot orthe binding. The forward opening l2 of the sleeve is of any suitableshape, being shown as V-shaped to better distribute the stress, and isplaced far enough back to clear the rear end of the binding. The edgesof the material may be suitably taped or bound.

The climber may be applied to the ski in either one of two ways. Forinstance, it may be slipped over the rear end 33 of the ski andforwardly, until its apron H is in position, and the straps 2 and 20 aresecured by the buckle 2|. If the climber has not previously beenadjusted to this particular ski, it is then stretched rearwardly bymeans of straps 4 and 4B, the one strap being secured to the rear end ofthe sleve at the lower side of its rear opening Ill, extending aroundthe rear end 33 of the ski and over its top, and the other strap beingsecured to the upper side of the rear opening of the sleeve. Thesestraps are engageable by a buckle 4! or a similar means, and here againthe arrangement should be such that it is easily engageable anddisengageable, and adjustable by small increments. Alternatively, thestraps 4 and 40 may first be adjusted to a length to bring the straps 2and 20 just behind the forward end of the binding, the climber then isslipped upon the ski, and it is tensioned lengthwise by pulling up onthe straps 2 and 20, and at the same time this pulls its forward endclosely about the ski. If the climber has been previously applied to theparticular ski, but has shrunk or stretched, suitable adjustment can bemade through the buckle 4i, and the same adjustment will accommodate theclimber to skis of different lengths, as is indicated in Figure 1.Usually, however, once the climber has been adjusted to a particular skiit is not necessary to accomplish any adjustment through the straps 4and 40, except possibly to accommodate stretching or shrinkage of theclimber itself. It may be simply pulled into place over the rear end ofthe ski, the straps 2 and 29 connected through the buckle 2|, and theclimber is ready for use. Thus the application of the climber becomes asimple matter. The straps 4 and 40 serve as a convenient handle tograsp, in removing the climber, which is sometimes difficult if theclimber has frozen to the ski.

As shown in Figure 1, snow will tend to collect beneath the bottom ofthe ski and between the ski and the under side of the climber.

Here it will tend to pack, and flattened masses of snow S are shown inFigure 1. Due to pressure of additional masses entering at the front,and due to thenormal action. of the ski in use, these will tend to Workrearwardly, and the climber being completely and freely open at its rearend Iii,

these masses will eventually work out rather than collect in the rearend of the climber, and such masses, in the act of being released, areindicated at s. This lessens the likelihood of the climber freezing tothe ski, although under some conditions this can not be avoided.

The formation of the rear end of the climber is largely a matter ofchoice. In Figure 2 its rear end is shown as square to the length of theclimber and ski, which is a simple form for manufacture. In Figure 4the-rear end Illa is shown as curved. This places the least stress onthe width of the rear end, and on the sides thereof, and will probablyfacilitate the discharge of snow masses from between the ski and theclimber. In Figure 5 the rear end lllb is shown as pointed.

This better distributes the stress from the strap 4|] and strengthensthe entire device, particularly the point of attachment of the straps tothe rear end of the climber.

What I claim as my invention is: 1. A ski climber comprising a sleeve offlexible material open at its front and rear ends to fit over the rearend of a ski, releasable means to secure its forward end to the ski, andmeans associated with the rear end of the sleeve and engageable with theski to tension the sleeve lengthwise of the ski.

2. A ski climber comprising a sleeve open at its front and rear ends, ofa size to fit about the ski behind the binding, releasable means securedthereto and extending over the top of the ski and in front of thebinding, to secure it to the ski, and releasable means extending fromits rear end beneath the ski over the rear end of the ski and to itsrear end on top of the ski, whereby to tension the sleeve lengthwise ofthe ski.

3. A ski climber comprising a sleeve of canvas or the like, open at itsfront and rear ends, and of a size to fit about the ski behind thebinding, an apron extending forwardly from its forward end, beneath theski, to the vicinity of the forward end of the binding, releasable meansextending from said apron at each side over the top of the ski and infront of the binding, and releasable means, variable in length toaccommodate different lengths of skis, extending from the rear end ofthe sleeve beneath the ski, over the rear end of the ski and to the rearend of the sleeve on top of the ski.

4. A ski climber comprising a sleeve open at its front and rear ends, ofa size to fit about a ski behind the binding, means to secure itsforward end releasably to the ski, and a strap adjustable in length toaccommodate different lengths of skis, extending from the rear end ofthe sleeve beneath the ski, over the rear end of the ski and to the rearend of the sleeve on top of the ski, whereby to tension the sleevelengthwise of the ski.

5. A ski climber comprising a sleeve of canvas or the like open at itsfront and rear ends, and of a size to fit about a ski behind thebinding, an apron integral with the sleeve and extending forwardly,beneath the ski, to the vicinity of the front end of the binding, a pairof straps secured to the edges of the apron and extending over the ski,in advance of the binding, a buckle to secure said straps together, afurther strap secured to the rear end of the sleeve, beneath the ski,and extending thence over the rear end of the ski and forwardly to therear end of the sleeve, on top of the ski, and a buckle to secure saidlatter strap at that point to the sleeve, of a type permitting minuteincrements of adjustment, to accommodate the sleeve to variations inlength of the ski or sleeve.

6. A ski climber comprising a sleeve of flexible material open at itsfront andrear' ends to fit over the rear end of a ski, means extendingrearwardly from the rear end of the sleeve and about the rear end of theski, and adjustable in length to position the front end of the climberslightly to the rear of the forward end of the binding, and strapssecured to the opposite sides of the forward end of the climber, and abuckle associated with the straps, whereby they may be adjusted by smallincrements to pull the climber closely to the ski at the front end ofthe climber, and to tension the climber lengthwise, reacting against theforward end of the binding.

of the sleeve against the resistance of said first 10 means CHESTER R.DAWSON.

